It's the Leadership, Stupid
The recent anniversary of Ronald Reagan's birth brought home why so many have been discouraged by the Republican primaries. We remembered that while Romney, Gingrich, Santorum, et.al. have been scrambling to, as the current usage goes, "show leadership" -- with 157-point economic plans, visions of Moon colonies, and mostly documenting what bums the other guys are -- Ronald Reagan never sought to "show" any such thing. Instead, even as a candidate, Reagan led, and it is the sober recognition of the extraordinary effectiveness of his leadership, and not some gauzy-focus nostalgia that makes him stand, even now, a head taller than his would-be successors.
Reagan led not through "sticking to the issues," as the head-shaking Republican political gurus are urging the squabbling contenders to do. He led by speaking simultaneously to our hearts and our heads. Reagan invoked, explained, and demonstrated the practical application of time-tested truths about economic life, war and peace, and human freedom in a way that encouraged people battered by inflation and unemployment and fearing national decline and a diminished future. We do not remember Reagan claiming that he or anybody who worked for him was brilliant, nor bragging about his experience in government or achievements in the private sector. For Reagan, the brilliance worth celebrating lay not in Ivy-League degrees, but in incandescent values, and the achievements that merited pride were those of Americans prospering in freedom as they made unprecedented contributions to the well-being of the rest of the world.
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